A handout photo made available by Limex Images of Pete McLeod of Canada (R) and Kirby Chambliss of the United States flying over the city of Kazan prior to the fifth stage of the Red Bull Air Race World Championship in Russia on August 22, 2018. (Photo by Joerg Mitter/EPA/EFE/Limex Images)

A dramatic rise in owning exotic pets in China is fuelling global demand for threatened species. The growing trade in alligators, snakes, monkeys, crocodiles and spiders is directly linked to species loss in some of the world’s most threatened ecosystems. Here: A fennec fox (Vulpes zerda) is groomed in a pet store in central Beijing. Native to the Sahara in North Africa, the species became a popular pet after being depicted as a character in Disney’s 2016 animated movie Zootopia. Individuals can cost between $2,000–$3,000. (Photo by Sean Gallagher/The Guardian)

Pakistan fans during the first one day international match at the Sophia Gardens, Cardiff on Thursday, July 8, 2021. (Photo by Bradley Collyer/PA Images via Getty Images)

A zoo employee carries three-month-old female giant panda cub, born to mother Liang Liang and father Xing Xing, on display to the public for the first time at the national zoo in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, November 17, 2015. (Photo by Olivia Harris/Reuters)

Sellers sort persimmons for sale at a wholesale market in Hanoi, Vietnam October 3, 2016. (Photo by Reuters/Kham)

“Doctor fish is the name given to two species of fish: Garra rufa and Cyprinion macrostomus. Other nicknames include nibble fish, kangal fish, physio fish and doctorfishen; in non-medical contexts, Garra rufa is called the reddish log sucker. They live and breed in the outdoor pools of some Turkish spas, where they feed on the skin of patients with psoriasis. The fish are like combfishes in that they only consume the affected and dead areas of the skin, leaving the healthy skin to grow, with the outdoor location of the treatment bringing beneficial effects. The spas are not meant as a curative treatment option, only as a temporary alleviation of symptoms, and patients usually revisit the spas every few months”. – Wikipedia

Photo: Visitors to the Aqua Sheko fish therapy spa have their feet exfoliated on June 24, 2010 in London, England. Customers sit with their feet in a tank filled with 100-150 Garra Rufa fish which remove any dead skin by nibbling and sucking. A half hour session is then followed by a foot massage. (Photo by Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images)

A stranded cat swims through flood water searching for dry land June 16, 2008 in Oakville, Iowa. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)

Yuandudu, a camera-shy panda cub, covers her eyes in Beauval ZooParc in France in November 2021. The three-month-old and her twin are fed once each by their mother every day, taking 150-200g of milk per feed. In between they have one bottle feed per day from the specially trained keepers who were sent from China to supervise their birth and early care. (Photo by Eric Baccega/Naturepl.com/LDY Agency)